Help a Brother out.

SWMBO got me a nice pipe rack last Christmas, and it has a "stone" thing in the lid like it should be for dropping water on to re-hydrate the 'baccy if it needs it.

Today I took the lid off and the stone had fallen down into the tobacco and was cracked and broken in the middle.

Since I've never had a pipe tobacco "humidor" before, does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it? I don't even know if I really need it as the jar seals very well.

I really shouldn't even be suggesting anything, due to my lack of experience, but it might be a type of porous clay or rock. Have you tried to see if there's a maker's mark anywhere on the stand/jar to see if you can find a replacement?

I would just get some CA glue and glue it back together. Then glue it back to where it is supposed to be!


Mike

+1

mglindo said:

I would just get some CA glue and glue it back together. Then glue it back to where it is supposed to be!


Mike

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I used to use the fumes from superglue in a sealed aquarium to raise latent prints...I'd be a bit concerned about fumes from glue soaking into the tobacco in the tightly sealed jar.

There's not a brand that is marked on the stand, Erik. It does seem to be a porous, chalky, kind of brittle, "stone" type thing. I'll ask SWMBO when she gets home where she got it at. It's a nice teakwood stand. Since I'd never had one of these before I didn't know what the little stone thing in the lid was for. Most all my tobacco is in mason jars.

A dab of JB Weld or some other epoxy ought to do the trick.

I would stick to a non-toxic, low smell glue, that stops emitting odors once cured: Weldbond is one such glue that works extremely well. I wouldn't even bother gluing the two parts together, just glue each part back in separately.

Price said:

A dab of JB Weld or some other epoxy ought to do the trick.

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+1.

JB Weld is non-toxic when dry. What you have is a clay disc that will absorb water quickly. You could also glue one of those aluminum humidor buttons, which usually have the same clay in them, to the lid.

The important part of those humidors is the rubber ring around the lid. It's a good seal that will keep the tobacco moist longer. Make sure the lid does seal tightly. If not, then in addition to the clay disc I'd throw a couple of those buttons in with the baccy to keep it moist.

Thanks guys. SWMBO says she got it at Milan Tobacconists. Scroll down to the 12 pipe racks. It says Humidifier included. I guess I could email them and ask what they used to keep it in place in the first place.

http://www.milantobacco.com/piperacks.htm

Al, the rubber O ring seals very, VERY well. I have some silicone that I use on my scuba diving gear, the rubber gasket to my underwater camera housing, etc. I'll spread a bit of that on the O ring from time to time to keep it in good shape. I have a couple of the aluminum humidity discs, but the tobacco seems to be staying just fine in the jar as it is.

Thanks to this thread I just learned that they make terra cotta disks that you moisten to keep brown sugar from drying out. I'm sure that they would serve the same purpose in your humidor if you could find one that is close to the same size as the damaged one.
http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Sugar-Disc-Various-Potwatcher/dp/B000MFJK36
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/terra-cotta-brown-sugar-disks-3-/10131
If you can't fine one the same size this one is cute. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/brown-sugar-bear/1011452698

That's an idea I'd never heard of or thought of Derrick. I may throw one of my aluminum re-hydraters in the brown sugar jar and see what happens! I think I'll just put the two halves back in like Mark said; not a big deal as I've never used that disc to re-hydrate because the jar seals so well...'baccy seems to keep good even after daily opening. There seems to be two votes for JB Weld...I have some of that...if it's still good. If not it's cheap.

I just emailed Milan about it a few minutes ago. Heck, they may end up sending me a whole new lid although it's not needed.

After posting the picture of the pipe rack it is apparent that I need to put some polish on the stem of the Charatan.

I believe the "rock" is what's known as Aztec Clay. You should be able to find a replacement on the Web.

Hot glue would be another option if you have a hot glue gun for putting it back together and into the lid.

Some 3M double-stick foam tape would work and wouldn't be permanent.

Thanks guys. I got a reply back from Milan Tobacconists; seems like they have an excellent customer service department. Here's the reply:

Thank you for your communication. If you haven't found a need to hydrate the clay piece, it may not be necessary to reattach it to the lid. However, if you prefer to have that option, Super Glue doesn't omit an odor once it has cured/dried. If you are not comfortable using Super Glue, I can send you a Savinelli magnetic humidifier at no charge. It comes with a metal plate that has 3M tape on the back which mounts to the lid. We have found that the 3M tape doesn’t hold indefinitely, so you may still need to use the Super Glue to reinforce the grip between the metal plate and lid.


Please advise as to how you would like to proceed.

Best regards,

~Renee

I may try the superglue, and I also have some JB Weld so I guess I'm good to go.

I wouldn't worry about it if it seals tightly. If your pipe 'baccy dries out in a tight sealing jar, well, you just aren't smoking enough.

Argonaut said:

I wouldn't worry about it if it seals tightly. If your pipe 'baccy dries out in a tight sealing jar, well, you just aren't smoking enough.

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I agree, just toss the broken clay and forget it. I don't think you will miss it.

Yeah, I would just toss the clay piece, and throw a disc in there if the 'baccy dried out a bit, but SWMBO got it for me. I'd like to fix it a bit.

Smoking a bowl out of the jar right now...it seems just fine.

Argonaut said:

If your pipe 'baccy dries out in a tight sealing jar, well, you just aren't smoking enough.

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You, my good man, have the wisdom of the world.

simon1 said:

....... but SWMBO got it for me. I'd like to fix it a bit.....

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Keeping your honey smiling is worth a dozen humidors.

I double sided tape some Spanish cedar to a cooler at one point because I was afraid of fumes. The cedar would fall periodically and was a pain. I went to super glue and like they said once cured there was absolutely no scent/ fumes. It worked very well.